We sat down with Faye Yan to discuss their new show Is There Work On Mars?, playing as part of Edinburgh Fringe Festival at ZOO Playground from the 1 – 21 August. Get your tickets here.
Lovely to meet you, Faye! Can you tell us about your upcoming Fringe show, Is There Work On Mars?
My pleasure! Is There Work On Mars? is a semi-autobiographical, neurospicy solo performance that combines theatre with a tint of performance art. It is about an Asian woman with a maths learning disability who tries to pass the ‘Martian Worker’s Immigration Exam’ conducted by Nylon Tusk’s SpaceY. The show places the audience in an absurdist testing lab of dystopian speculations, delving into ableist education systems, the experience of living in the diaspora, and ridiculous immigration requirements with humour and irreverence. Is There Work On Mars? is a satirical reminder that maybe being a ‘failure’ in life can be an act of rebellion in our current sociopolitical landscape.
You’ve been to the Fringe before – how does it feel to come back in 2025?
Edinburgh Fringe feels like a whole universe on its own, and you really have to immerse yourself in it to understand this world. Coming back in 2025, I feel like I can focus a lot more on the show itself having kind of figured out how this world works. As someone who burns out really easily but also tends to overcommit myself to too many things (typical ADHDer problems), I hope to pay more attention on self-care and things that really bring meaning and joy to this experience. I’m very grateful to have met some lifelong friends at Fringe last year, and I look forward to establishing more meaningful relationships with likeminded individuals. I’m also very excited to be part of the ZOO Festival alongside many other eclectic shows this year. It’ll be a fun journey!
What was the creation process for the show like? Has it changed at all in the last year?
The initial concept of Is There Work on Mars? originated from a project proposal I did during my master’s programme in Performance Making, in which I wanted to explore the concept of “testing” in education from a neurodiverse perspective. Then I enrolled in a Playwriting course with Jessica Siân and decided to start developing a script for this concept, which was when the ‘sci-fi’-like landscape emerged. I also took part in Hannah Ballou’s Creating Solo Performance course which inspired me to develop the show with a multidisciplinary approach. I also worked closely with sound artists Pannavich Weswibul and Charlie Nelson to create the soundscape, a very important element of the show that informed a lot of the story.
Essentially, Is There Work on Mars? was first created following a somewhat traditional script-to-stage process with rehearsals and previews in which I invited friends to provide directorial advice. However, I realised over the past year that I don’t like typing scripts in front of a computer. At last year’s Fringe, I met theatre-practitioner Joanna Matthews who kindly offered dramaturgy for the show, and encouraged me to ‘play’ with new ideas rather than confining myself inside the box of a script. I also discovered more about myself at an artist residency in Finland and realised that I need to ‘let go’ in my creative process. Over the past year, I’ve been doing a lot more ‘playing’ rather than ‘making’. My current process is a lot more intuitive and body-focused, which I think shows in the developments I’ve made to Is There Work on Mars? this year.
What would you like audiences to take away from the show? Is there a main theme or perspective you’d like people to engage with?
The show is set in a dystopian political landscape that reflects on many subjects, from immigration to neurodiversity. The perspective of the show is very personal and therefore intersectional, so I hope the show can be a space for the audience to reflect on multiple layers of societal issues in relation to their diverse personal experiences. Maybe they’ll resonate with some aspects of my experience, maybe they’ll walk away with something they haven’t thought of before. I don’t think there’s a main theme or perspective I want to push onto the audience. The show is more like an absurd lab of ideas that hopefully raises more questions than answers.
What does the future of theatre and making performance-based work look like to you?
I’m excited to engage with a more multidisciplinary approach to performance making outside of institutionalised theatre and performance practices. It might sound crazy but I still feel like someone is ‘grading’ my work every time I perform. My intention for the next stage is to allow time and space for myself to ‘play’ with performance and art rather than ‘make’. By being more in tune with my body and my intuitions, I hope to ground myself in knowing who I am as an artist and develop a sustainable career. Recently, I’ve been integrating visual art back into my practice after a very long break from painting and drawing, which has allowed me to trace means of expression that are more authentic to me. Maybe my next show will be physical theatre, maybe it’ll be a live action painting, or maybe spoken word, but I’m not in a rush to find out.
Finally, if you could sum up Is There Work On Mars? in one word what would it be?
Brutal.